conworldfandomcom-20200222-history
LKAB
LKAB AS is a Kalmar Union mining company. The company is mining iron ore in mines at Kiruna and at Malmberget in the north of Sweden. LKAB is an international high-tech minerals group, one of the world’s leading producers of upgraded iron ore products for the steel industry and a growing supplier of industrial minerals products to other sectors. Most of the iron ore products are sold to European steelworks. Other important markets are North Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Industrial minerals are sold mainly in Europe but also to growing markets in Asia and the USA. LKAB has around 4,400 employees, of which 700 outside Kalmar Union. The company has four divisions: *The Sales & Marketing Division develops and markets iron ore products to the steel industry. *The Mining Division mines iron ore and processes and transports iron ore products. *The Minerals Division markets industrial mineral products. *The Special Businesses Division supports Group companies with services and technical development. Sales & Marketing Division Sales & Marketing Division manages marketing, sales and development of iron ore products to the steel industry. Sales offices are located in Luleå, Brussels, Essen and Singapore. Mining Division The Mining Division mines, processes, transports and delivers iron ore products. Iron ore is upgraded to customer-tailored products for steelmaking – mainly pellets, which are centimeter-sized spheres of ore manufactured with a high iron content and uniform quality. LKAB is one of the world’s leading pellet producers. Mining Division: Products LKAB supplies customized iron ore products for blast furnaces and direct reduction. Pellets are sintered, centimeter-sized spheres of ore with a high iron content and uniform quality. LKAB produces two varieties of pellets: blast furnace pellets (BF pellets) and direct reduction pellets (DR pellets). Fines – or sinter fines – is a fine, iron-rich powder that must be sintered to larger pieces (lumps) before it can be used in the blast furnace. LKAB '''produces two very similar magnetite fines products, both of which are used in sintering plants. Products are developed in close collaboration with customers, using '''LKAB’s '''own experimental blast furnace, through technical customer service and with a thorough knowledge of customers’ processes. '''LKAB’s '''ore has high iron content and consists mainly of magnetite. It requires lower energy input during processing, which results in lower carbon dioxide emissions. It is therefore more environmentally friendly than other ores. Mining Division: Operations LKAB has been mining the iron-rich ores of the Orefields of northern Sweden for more than a century. LKAB’s mines in Kiruna and Malmberget are among the world’s most modern, thanks to investments in advanced technology and large-scale production systems. In processing plants on the surface, the ore is transformed into customer-tailorediron ore products.The process chain stretches all the way from the iron ore deposits to the customer. It starts with the production of crude ore in underground mines, continues with upgrading of iron ore in processing plants at surface level, and rail transport of finished products to shipping harbors for further delivery to customers around the world. It is an integrated process that is always in progress, around-the-clock, year-round. Sublevel caving is the mining method used in LKAB’s mines. The crude ore is loaded to trucks or trains, crushed in a central crushing plant, and then hoisted to surface level for further processing by sorting-, concentrating- and pelletizing plants.Underground rail transports in Kiruna are remote-controlled, as are some other operations, for example, production drilling and loading. This degree of automation enables greater efficiency in process control. Kiruna The orebody in Kiruna is a single, enormous slice of magnetite. It is about four kilometers long, has an average width of 80 meters and extends to an estimated depth of two kilometers. It is inclined at roughly 60 degrees. The main level is at a depth of 1045 meters below surface level. Mining of the orebody takes place between the 775 and 1045-meter levels. About 26 Mt of crude ore is mined each year Malmberget The Malmberget mine consists of about 20 orebodies, of which ten are currently mined. Most of the deposit consists of magnetite ore, but non-magnetic hematite also occurs. The present main level of the Malmberget mine is at a depth of 1000 meters. About 14 Mt of crude ore is extracted from the orebodies each year. Mining Division: Processing In the ore processing plants at surface level, the crude ore is upgraded to pellets and fines. Ore is ground to a fine powder in several stages; then, undesirable components are removed by magnetic separators.The concentrate is mixed with water to form a slurry and pumped to the pelletizing plant. The slurry is then dewatered with large filters, and then mixed with binders and additives, depending on the type of pellet to be produced. Olivine, quartzite, limestone and dolomite are examples of additives.The mixture is fed into gigantic drums and rolled into small ‘green balls’. These are then, in the grate-kiln process in Kiruna and Svappavaara, heated in a large rotary kiln at 1,250°C to become pellets. This gives them the hard surface they need to withstand long transports by rail and ship.The red-hot pellets are cooled to about 50°C before they are tipped into an underground storage facility beneath the pelletizing plant. From there, they are automatically loaded to railway cars for further transport.Unlike pellets, fines must be sintered to larger pieces before the product can be used in blast furnaces. Fines from Malmberget is a screened product from the mine. It is processed in sorting and concentrating plants by dry and wet separation.The Kiruna processing plants produces different types of iron ore pellets to the Steel Industry. Only Malmberget has the capacity to produce fines, but the main product from Malmberget will also be pellets in the future. Minerals Division Minerals Division manages production, development and marketing of industrial minerals, both highly upgraded iron ore and other mineral products that are sold to customers outside the traditional steel industry. Operations are run by the subsidiary '''Minelco, which has become a global player on the minerals market. Special Businesses Division Subsidiaries that are subcontractors to Mining and Minerals and support the Group by contributing towards efficiency improvement and technical development in rock and concrete engineering, steel structures, explosives, drilling systems and property management. Subsidiaries Fastighets AS Malmfälten Fastighets AS Malmfälten (FAS) is a wholly owned subsidiary of LKAB. FAS owns residential properties with about 2,200 apartments in Kiruna, Malmberget and Koskullskulle. Wassara AS Wassara AS is a wholly owned subsidiary of LKAB founded in 1998. Wassara develops and markets water-powered drilling systems for the Mining and Construction Industries. Wassara is a sales and development company. With its patented water powered hammer,Wassara AS creates total solutions that lead the market in water-powered drilling. Wassara creates drilling solutions for the construction and mining markets. Extensive access to technical know-how and experience at Wassara and our owners are combined with a successfully driven co-operation network. Owners, customers and drilling companies throughout the world together with Wassara engineers and specialists form a winning concept for more efficient drilling Wassara has created complete drilling systems for different applications in the mining and construction industry. They are composed of hammers, drill bits and casing advancing equipment, drill tubes, check valves, swivels and high-pressure pump . The systems are designed to be easy to use with customer´s existing drilling rigs. Relatively minor modifications totheir drilling equipment are necessary in order to take advantage of the many benefits of the system. The heart of the Wassara Drilling System is the Wassara Hammer. This worldwide patent, using water as its power source, drills in a rapid, economical and environmentally friendly manner. The Wassara Hammer has a stabilized piston case. This enables straight drilling with superior precision. AS Kiruna Grus (KGS) KGS is a wholly owned subsidiary of LKAB. The company goals are crushing, gravel and concrete production, and rock reinforcement in mines and for building construction and civil engineering companies. Develops, manufactures and supplies explosives for use in LKAB’s mines. KGS Mekaniska manufactures steel structures and steel components Minelco The Minelco Group is internationally active in the market of industrial minerals with a leading position within a number of product applications. See: Minelco Malmtrafik Malmtrafik i Kiruna AS or MTAS is a Kalmar Union railway company which operates the iron ore freight trains on the Ore Line and the Ofoten Line. MTAS is a wholly owned subsidiary of LKAS. Malmtrafik hauls ore from LKAS's mines in Kiruna, Malmberget and Svappavaara to the ports of Luleå in the Baltic Sea and Narvik in the North Sea. See: Malmtrafik Category:Kalmar Union Category:Companies of Kalmar Union Category:Companies